


Twenty Two

by kissinggfish



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Game, Coming Out, Fluff, Gay, M/M, New Years
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-01
Updated: 2014-01-01
Packaged: 2018-01-07 00:04:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1113118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kissinggfish/pseuds/kissinggfish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every person, at exactly midnight on New Year’s following their twenty second birthday, they possessed the body of their soul mate for the following twenty four hours.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twenty Two

 

You wake up like you normally would have, at noon. The light of the sun filtered through your white- no. You shouldn`t have white curtains on your windows. You stretch, feet hitting the hardwood floor like it does every morning. Something is wrong though. There are no game consoles strewn around and you don`t remember decorating your walls with posters of Nicholas Cage and other shitty actors. You aren`t in your apartment as it was clear to see.

Your hands reach toward the slim electronic device on the floor. The date was January 1st, 2018. _Of course._ You almost forgot about it. Every year, at exactly midnight, following their twenty second birthday, everyone possessed the body of their soul mate. You celebrated your twenty second birthday about a month ago with your brother and his soul mate.

Now it`s time to figure out where the hell you were, and quite frankly who you were. Your hand travels down to your pants. You were definitely a man, and well endowed. Your own body was bigger though, you had to admit. You shrug it off and realize that this body needs prescription glasses, and quite badly. His glasses were tucked over the bed frame. You reach for the black frames and stick them on your face. You could see much better now.

You stand up and walk out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the bathroom. Somehow, your body just knows where to go, like some kind of muscle memory or something. Either way, you close the bathroom door and drop your boxers to go pee like you always do in the morning. He must do it too, because it felt right.

You flush the toilet and wash your hands with the strangely peppermint smelling soap. Looking up, you are quite startled by your reflection in the mirror. You turn off the water and stare.

He has a square, angular jaw with higher cheekbones than you are used to. Pale lips crack a smile and show off buck teeth that couldn`t be fixed, even by years and years of braces. His eyes are the bluest blue to ever have blued. They reminded you of a crystal clear pond, or a cloudless sky on a summer`s day. He had glasses that were blocky and honestly quite filthy. You take them off and clean them on his large shirt with the Ghostbuster`s logo on it. It doesn`t do much good. You place them back on his face and ran a hand through his messy black hair. It stuck out in every direction and man, it was soft. He didn`t have any scars on his face and his skin was pale like he never got much sunlight.

You leave the bathroom smiling softly to yourself. As soon as you get some pants on, you need to determine where you are.

You do just so, tugging on the first pair of jeans on the dresser. He was organized. Everything had its place and you almost feel bad for rifling through his drawers. It end up being relatively still organized and you are brushing his hair flat with a comb you found on his desk.

You look presentable enough to leave the room and wander down the stairs to hit the smell of baking. Did this kid already have a girlfriend? Or even a boyfriend, if he knew he was gay. Maybe he was living with a friend. No, his dad was the one that poked his head around the corner.

“Hello!” His father tipped his hat to his son. “Did you sleep well enough? I know it must have been hard with our neighbors sending off their fireworks.”

You nod, unsure if his dad knew of his predicament. “Yeah, I guess.” His voice sounded higher than it should be for a twenty-two year old guy. Some people were natural altos, you guessed.

“John,” you smiled at his name. It suited this body. “Are you feeling okay? You don`t seem like yourself.” John`s father raised his eyebrow at his son grabbing a freshly baked cookie off the tray. Maybe John didn`t like sweet foods.

You shrug and take a bite. Your bro told you to be careful around your soul mate`s parents. His time wasn`t as tough as yours though. Bro could waltz around in his soul mate`s body and act like himself because he was in a girl`s body. This was different. You were still in a man`s body. You didn`t know if John was even openly gay, or if he knew he was gay.

“Okay, well let me know if you`re feeling better later.” John`s father calls out after you as you grab two more cookies and walk back up the stairs.

“Will do,” You shut the door and sit on his bed, eating your two additional chocolate chip cookies. They were still warm and gooey.

The clock on the wall told you it was around noon. His laptop sat across the room and you were seriously wondering if you should go snooping. It couldn`t hurt, right?

You slide into the rolling office chair and resist the urge to be childish and twirl around on it. You open the laptop and click around his open browser. You decide to snoop around and scroll through the images that he had saved. You go for the folder labeled “family” first. You see pictures of his father`s wedding and pictures throughout John`s life. He had goofy hair at age three. When he started school, John had tousled hair and was wearing a blue striped shirt. He lived life with a smile on his face. His goofy buck teeth were present throughout all of them, even when he had braces (which were present through four birthday parties and five Christmases). The last picture uploaded was John`s dad standing alone in a graveyard. He was hunched over, holding a bouquet of flowers and the hat ever present in the pictures wasn`t there. Someone had died and you felt a pang of sadness.

Enough snooping through his personal photos, you decide. You click out of the photos and head for his iTunes account. You needed to make sure he had a good taste in music. You listen to his top twenty-five played songs. They were relatively upbeat and there was heavy piano influence through many songs. You click through playlists and hit “Piano Recitals”.

This was John playing. You turn the volume up and just listen. It was beautiful to hear. Just to think, these hands made something so beautiful.

You aren`t going to deny the fact you stayed on his laptop all day, listening to his piano music. There was a lot, from various ages and genres. You recognized several hits from the radio. You hear John`s father from downstairs.

“Sport, it`s dinner time!” He sounds happy. It was peculiar to be here and sitting down for a family dinner, but that`s what John did.

You sigh and close out of his laptop and walk down the stairs. “What`s for dinner?” You inhale and smell baked goods and something underlying. Definitely savory and wow, definitely homemade.

John`s father holds out a plate with a delicious looking casserole and a fork. “Pork chop casserole, just like every New Year.”

You take the plate and smile at his father, who motioned you to sit down at the table. You take the seat and shift uncomfortably. He definitely needs to tell John who he is. “So, uh,” You bite your lip. “I don`t remember much of last night… What happened?”

That was believable, right? John was definitely twenty-two at least, so he could conceivably have gotten drunk with friends.

John`s dad looks at you confused, but answers the question without any of his own. “Well, we watch the New Year`s program on television and you went to bed early because you said you weren`t feeling well.”

You nod. “How were the fireworks?” You silently begged him to note where the fireworks were shooting off of.

“Oh, they were wonderful! The workers at the Space Needle did a marvelous job this time!” He took a big bite of his pork chop.

“That`s cool.” He lived near the Space Needle? You bit the inside of your lip. That was in… Washington state. John lived in Washington. That was a full 2,440 miles away. One day by car, nonstop. You sigh and chew some more of the casserole.

Dinner continues silently after that. John`s dad doesn`t ask any more questions, and neither do you. You finish eating and wash your plate, much like John normally does. You watch a movie with John`s dad after he finished and you went up to John`s room and laid on his bed. The clock showed a much later time than you thought. It was almost midnight.

 

There was something you needed to do, you were sure of it. You tugged off the shirt you were wearing and your pants. You always felt more comfortable sleeping in just underwear. You close your eyes and drift off to sleep.

You wake up in the almost familiar apartment, it was definitely cleaner. Your bro passed it down to you when he moved out to live with his soul mate. The first word that hissed out of your mouth is “Shit.”

* * *

 

                You wake up and you can already tell you aren`t in your own room. It`s too dark in here. You try to rub your eyes but dark plastic is covering your face. You`re wearing sunglasses? You take them off and blink.

Wow. No. Can`t do that. It was too bright in here, even with what looked like black out curtains on the windows. You slide them back on your face and stretch your sore muscles. It was nine in the morning, just a tad later than you normally wake up.

There was a sharp knock that jolted you fully awake. Your limbs flailed and you tug one of the shirts lying on the floor over your head. You open the door and are staring at a completer stranger. He greets you with a giant smile and a strong handshake.

“Nice to meet ya, dude.” The man entered the apartment before you could ask who he was. “Call me Bro,” It was almost like he was psychic.

You watch the stranger settle down on the futon you were just sleeping on. He tossed you a boxed drink of apple juice. Bro also pats the cushioning next to him and tells you to sit. You comply. He was kinda scary.

“Uh… I`m not sure who you are, but listen: I`m not who you think I am.” You bite your bottom lip and pick at a hangnail. “I`m not even sure who I am.”

“Course you are.” Bro adjusts the shades on his face. They were just as dark as the ones you had on your face. “You`re my bro`s soul mate. Nice to meet you.”

“Wait, no. That can`t be right, Bro.” Your brow furrows in confusion. “I`m not even twenty two,”

“Oh well. Dave is, so I guess you get a little head start than your other friends, eh?”  He smirks. “What`s your name?”

“John Egbert.” You swallow. You had nearly forgotten about the New Year body swapping thing. Your dad never talked about when he met his soul mate, and it made no sense to be expecting it a year early. Everyone he had known was twenty two when it happened to them. Maybe he just didn`t know enough people. You look down to your legs, currently crossed in the childish crisscross-apple-sauce way. You were pale as hell, like Dave never got enough sun. There were tiny white scars all over his legs and arms. You hoped he was okay.

You barely knew this man and you already felt your heart tugging and hoping when the day is done you can wake up with a smile and proclaim proudly to your dad that you were gay. That reminded you. “Bro, where am I?”

“Houston, Texas. Where is your body?” He raises his eyebrows.

“Seattle, Washington…” You frown. That was a long way away.

A phone chimed in a message. Bro grabs his phone and clicks a few buttons. “I`ve gotta go, the missus woke up.” He bumps your fist and leaves with a mysterious warning. “Careful about the fridge.”

So now you were alone in Dave`s apartment, and at this moment, Dave was almost alone in his house. Oh no. You feel queasy as you hope to the heavens that Dave doesn`t tell his dad about him. You needed to have that talk by yourself. If it goes badly, you can hop on a plane and go to Houston and live your life out with Dave in this apartment.

Speaking of, the apartment was absolutely filthy. It needed to be cleaned. You decide in that point that you are going to clean his apartment. You open his laptop and click through to his music library. You start playing the funky beat and get to cleaning. You always found it easier to clean when you had music.

You threw nothing but discarded and greasy wrappers in the trash. You organized his vast CD collection, most of which was punk music. You wrapped up cables and put them all in a box tucked away neatly under his computer desk. You used bleach to clean the bathtub and the kitchen sink. You washed dishes and put them away to the best of your ability. The one thing you didn`t touch yet was the fridge. In all honesty, Bro`s last comment frightened you. What had he meant? Was the fridge holding a dead body? Did it hold moldy Chinese leftovers from last year? If you opened the door, were you going to be assaulted by the horrid smell of a bachelor`s ice box?

You use the broom`s handle to nudge the refrigerator open. Good thing to. Swords fell out and sliced through the air. You stare wide eyed at the mostly empty fridge. “What idiot keeps swords in the fridge?” You shake your head and grab a sponge to start wiping away the grime. After the task was finished, you try to place the swords in the proper place. It was apparently a booby trap set by Dave, or Bro.

It is late when you finally wash your own hands free of the chemical smell. You eat instant ramen you found in the pantry.

Before you go to bed, you sit in the bathroom and stare at his face for five minutes, just to see him. He is actually very attractive. Light blonde, almost white hair and his cool shades that protected his sensitive eyes. You slide the glasses down carefully and inspect his irises. They were a magnificent ruby red. He had exactly forty-two freckles smattered across his cheeks and a lot of tiny scars, which all came from something called strifing. You guessed that was a sibling thing. Dave was well muscled and his skin was soft. You didn`t travel to what lay underneath his boxers. That would be an invasion of privacy, you think.

You decide to write him a letter and explain what happened, though you think he probably knows. You include your address and leave it on a box of apple juice next to his bed. Bro told you it was his favourite. You go to sleep around eleven.

When you wake up, the first thing you do is check all around your room for hints that Dave had left any type of letter. You are disappointed when you find nothing. You walk down to the kitchen and greet your dad. He smiles and offers you cookies he had no doubt baked yesterday.

“Are you feeling any better? You were acting strange yesterday.” He also offers you a bowl of cereal and a spoon.

“Yeah, I am.” You sit down and take a bite of cereal, chewing it methodically. “Hey Dad, I need to talk with you.”

Your dad sits down, noting the seriousness of the conversation. “What is it, champ?”

You swallow another bite of the cereal. “I`m… uh… wow, I don`t know how to tell you this.” Your throat felt like it was going to constrict and choke you. “I`m gay.”

His father nodded slightly. “Are you sure? You haven`t met your soul mate yet. That happens next year, maybe we wait…”

“No dad.” You squirm in your seat again. “He is twenty two, and well, it happened early for me.” You take another big bite of cereal and chew while your father processes the information. His face changed from confused to upset to hurt and finally to happy.

“Well, where does he live?” His dad was smiling and seated next to you. It was good for him to be absorbed in another project besides baking. And honestly you were getting sick of the smell. It has been a long time since there wasn`t freshly baked cookies or cupcakes around.  You remember having your mother baking delicious things all the time. Perhaps that`s why he was always pushing baked goods on him. You don`t remember your mother much aside from that.  But back to the plot line.

“Uh… Houston, I`m pretty sure.” You bite your lip. “I left a note with him.” Which reminded you. “I need to check my phone.”

You down the rest of your cereal and go back up to your room. Your phone is lying on the floor, charging. You click the button rapidly, impatient for the screen to register any movement. Five messages are blinking at you. You eagerly click them and read it out. They`re from Dave.

TG: hey uh egbert i guess

TG: i hear you are my soulmate so uh

TG: im mailing you some tickets for you and your dad to visit

TG: ill see you then

TG: and thanks for cleaning the apartment dude like wow

You smile and message him back that you are really excited, and he didn`t have to buy tickets. Airfare is expensive. He tells you that his bro is rich as fuck and his soul mate is too. He tells you not to worry about it and to expect the tickets in a couple days. You tell your dad and he is also very excited.

In the mail, two days later, are tickets for two to fly to Houston. One had a fly back date, the other did not. You assumed you would spend a longer amount of time with Dave than your dad. And when the day came for you to fly out to Houston, you are bouncing with excitement.

The flight is longer than you hoped. You watched all of Con Air, extended edition, and you took a nap. The wheels touch down and you are shaking in your seat. Why were you nervous about meeting Dave? It`s not like things will go badly.

Your dad makes you walk calmly down the hallway and through the reverse security thing and to baggage claim. It`s crowded with people all coming back from holiday vacations and some were holding signs. You find your bag and walk around aimlessly until you see your blonde beauty. He is leaning against the wall and holding a sign made with red paint: “yo egbert” it read.

You drop your bag and you will swear later that the world slowed down. You hug Dave and he twirls you around like in cheesy romantic movies, which he will deny later. The two of you kiss like long lost lovers, because it was the first week of the New Year and the first real day of your adult life.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I had this idea and I wanted to post it before 2014. Have a fantastic (and safe) New Year!


End file.
